Newsletter

October 1 - Encapsulating the Experience of a Transformative Summit

XVI, Issue Number 16
October 1, 2014

Dear Colleague,

It is always hard to return from the NLN Education Summit and try to encapsulate the experience in one reasonably concise Member Update. This year is no exception, but I will give it a try. First, colleagues, I want to share an observation...

After about 16 years of Update Mondays for you, our members, we are now blasting the Member Update on Wednesdays — an example of change. Those of you at the Summit heard me distinguish between change (four quarters for one dollar) and transformation (I give you a dollar and you give me back five). Through my keynote address, I conveyed the depth and breadth of transformation required for nursing education in today's complex health care environment, both globally and at home. And this illustrated how the NLN is responding, with the help of our partners — including you, our members — in many, many fascinating ways.

The theme of transformation was a constant in all Summit presentations and in the more informal settings. The major sessions were videotaped and will be posted online soon. While watching online cannot convey the true Summit experience, your students and faculty colleagues will find the presentations thought provoking and inspirational. Please share them.

Had a great #NLNSummit banquet last night. Polly Bednash received the President Award from Marsha Adams. Uniting nursing education rocks!

An estimated 100,000 people live with sickle cell disease in the U.S. and millions are affected globally.

An example is the plenary session presented by Maryann Alexander, chief officer, nursing regulation, at the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Dr. Alexander describes in detail the methodology and findings from the recent NCSBN study on the use of simulation as a replacement for conventional clinical education in pre-licensure education. The findings for students six months post-graduation are stunning.

Saturday's Debra L. Spunt lecture by Dr. Kristina Thomas Dreifuerst is a perfect complement to this presentation. With gentle humor, Kristina expands on the value of debriefing beyond what went right and what went wrong as a way to flip the simulation and advance higher order thinking among nursing students. Together these talks represent a transformational approach to nursing education and merit close attention.

Be sure to review the other sessions, especially the National Faculty Meeting, where NLN president-elect Dr. Anne Bavier presided over a Q & A on the NLN Commission for Nursing Education Accreditation (CNEA) and ethics in nursing education. And of course, you will relish the talk by Lee Cockerell, "You Can Create Disney Magic Too."

Another highlight of the NLN Summit is the opportunity to formally recognize transformational leaders in nursing education. Dr. Ann Louise Smith developed a competitive pediatric nurse residency program for the Cook Children's Medical Center in Texas that accelerates the transition from student to professional pediatric nurse. Graduates of the program perform at the highest levels, and we were honored to present Ann with the NLN Award for Outstanding Leadership in Workforce Development.

Dr. Terry Valiga, professor and director of the Institute for Educational Excellence at Duke University School of Nursing in Durham, NC, was recognized for Outstanding Leadership in Nursing Education. It is no exaggeration to describe Terry's role at the NLN as transformational. Before assuming her position at Duke in 2008, Terry served for nine years as the League's chief program officer and was instrumental in developing many of our most prestigious initiatives: the Hallmarks of Excellence in Nursing Education, the Excellence in Nursing Education Model, and our recognition programs, including Nurse Educator Certification. It was a joy to welcome Terry to the podium at this transformational Summit.

We bestowed other awards too. The Outstanding Leadership of a Constituent League Award went to Sharon Schlosser of the Alabama League for Nursing, and the award for Outstanding Innovation of a Constituent League went to the Massachusetts/Rhode Island League for Nursing. The Hearst Foundations Excellence in Geriatric Education Awards were presented to Ohio University in Athens, and Union County College in Plainfield, NJ. Both schools of nursing use ACE.S, the NLN's Advancing Care Excellence for Seniors free resources, to foster human flourishing for older adults and promote evidence-based, quality care to seniors in a wide variety of health care settings. Their work is outstanding.

At the NLN Banquet on Friday evening, President Marsha Howell Adams awarded the NLN President's Award to Dr. Polly Bednash, who retired recently as executive director of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing; we named six schools of nursing NLN Centers of Excellence; we recognized Danielle Rourke of Duke University School of Nursing for her entry in the Student Excellence Paper Competition (watch for her paper in the fall issue of the NLN Report); and we inducted 20 fellows and two honorary fellows in the NLN Academy for Nursing Education. Plus, we played Text-to-Pledge to support the NLN Foundation for Nursing Education — a special opportunity for competitive giving — and were overjoyed by your response: more than $30,000 was raised during the course of the banquet.

Is that it? I think I've covered mostly everything. As always, I invite you to start thinking about being part of the next NLN Education Summit. We will be in Las Vegas in 2015 (September 30 - October 3), and our theme will be "Bridging Practice and Education: A New World of Innovation and Technology." Watch for our call for abstracts later this month.

And, of course, it's always time to take advantage of our many faculty development programs, including the informative 2014 Fall Webinar Series. Our thoughtfully presented programs, workshops, and conferences are designed to help you on your journey to transformation. It's wonderful to be a part of the NLN.